


F.R.Y.

by Lunarium



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Meetings, Frenemies, M/M, Snippets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 13:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16198757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/pseuds/Lunarium
Summary: Matt Holt and Rolo: a relationship in three snippets.





	F.R.Y.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TereziMakara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TereziMakara/gifts).



###### Frenemies

The blip on the screen registered as neither friend nor foe, but Matt was instantly on alert all the same. The fact that the blip didn’t register as a friend meant it wasn’t recognized as a fellow rebel. 

He pushed his chair back and reached for his laser gun. The blip was heading for the supply of food and medicines that their group had recently procured from a recent raid. A rogue was either seeking to steal the supplies that wasn’t rightfully theirs, as the rebels kept the supplies for anyone needing them in the planets they freed, or it was some scrounger desperate for a bite to eat. Either way Matt couldn’t act too carefully. 

He tiptoed towards the source where the blip indicated, gun at the ready. 

With all the theories running through his head, he was not prepared for this. 

The face burned in his mind like flipping through the pages of a book until it placed the name to the face. After hearing about the Paladins of Voltron and their many adventures—such legendary fighters! The tales were so insane! If only Dad were here, and Pidge! Once he got back home there were so many stories he wanted to tell! Needless to say, Matt looked up to them with utmost admiration—he had made it his duty to memorize every foe they had come across, just in case Matt or any other rebel were to cross paths. 

“Rolo?” 

The man was just as tall and lanky and purple as the data file Matt had gotten from Te-Osh, but a shift in his demeanor was unmistakable. Matt knew Rolo was running from the law the last time he and his two cohorts had a run-in with Voltron. 

“How do you know my name?” he asked gruffly before turning back to the supply cabinets. 

Matt pointed his gun. “Those are for the occupied colonies. We free them, we give them food. We heal them. They are not for someone who does not comply with any law, Galra or rebel.” 

Rolo sighed, and to Matt’s shock, took a step back. His eyes narrowed. 

“Where’s the other two?” he wanted to ask, but before the words could come out of his mouth, Rolo threw a small pebble towards him. It burst, sending off red fumes. Matt coughed and instantly threw an arm over his face to protect himself as the other arm worked to wave the smoke away. 

Blinking away the residual smoke, he peered around and cursed. In that short amount of time, Rolo had absconded with the goods. 

“Come back here!” 

He set off, his own watch ready to call for backup. He was ready to learn that Rolo was far ahead of him, but he didn’t have to run far. 

_“Nyma?”_

The voice came whispered and soft, but what startled Matt most was that it came from _behind_ him. He turned back and retraced his steps, locating a long stretch of shadow behind a stack of metal crates. 

“Nyma? Are you there?” Rolo was hunched, one hand gripping tightly to the stolen stash of supplies as the other held the communicator device. “Nyma? How are you? Are you feeling better? Please, Nyma, just…it’ll be okay. I know. I was scared for you too. Just hold on. I’ll be there soon. Just ran into some trouble. I got some medicine for you, and something to eat. No, I don’t know if it’s galawag mushrooms; I know you hate the stuff but you have to eat—” 

Matt retreated his steps, frowning. His heart set heavily in his chest, and as he slowly made his way back to the supply cabinet, he thought of Te-Osh, and an offer he could make to Rolo in exchange for helping him and Nyma. 

Just as he was thinking this, a laser beam grazed his cheek. He ducked just as another flew by, missing his head. 

_I’m being attacked!_ were the words Matt never got to send to his fellow rebels. Presumably a Galra soldier had followed Rolo and thus Matt’s location, and the rebel headquarters, was blown. 

Matt and the Galra fought, but Matt kept one eye on the supplies. He was tasked with keeping them safe; many peoples across multiple worlds relied on them and if it was destroyed—

He was knocked off his feet, and he hit his head on hard ground. In that moment there was a yell and the Galra soldier fell to his knees. As Matt’s head cleared, he looked up, searching for his rescuer. 

“Thanks,” Matt said as Rolo helped him to his feet. 

They stood a few feet apart a little awkwardly. Matt glanced back at the food supply. 

“I heard a little from your conversation,” Matt began. “So I came back to get you more stuff before I was attacked.” 

“Yeah?” Rolo said. “When I saw you were attacked, I figured it was my chance for escape, but…I didn’t want to see you dead. I didn’t come here to make an enemy.” 

Matt smiled. “One less enemy is always good at times like these.” 

Rolo studied his smile for a few moments, looking pensive. 

“Listen,” Rolo said. “Listen, we’ve been running ever since we tried to fool Voltron on that moon. Then Nyma fell sick, and Beezer’s systems needed restoring. I know we’ve made mistakes, but Nyma and Beezer are my best friend, and I couldn’t—”

“If you think I’m throwing you in prison, think again,” Matt said. “I’ll help you get more food. Any medicine she needs. And—” he could help sticking his chest out a little as if showing off. “—I’m a bit of a computer nerd so I can take a look at your pal.” 

Rolo’s smile widened with an edge of nervousness. Matt knew what Rolo was thinking. This wasn’t going to happen without a price. 

“Really? Thanks!”

###### And They Were _Roommates_!

They only had two minutes to get this right. Jump off the craft, infiltrate the plant, take down the sentries, and hack into the central controls. Once all of the data has been collected, they were to report back without getting killed by the second wave of sentries and armed guards. 

Matt and Rolo pulled it off without a hitch. 

“Told ya we can do it!” Matt announced as both he and Rolo wore the biggest smug grins to Nyma and Beezer as they trotted up the steps to the cockpit. The two shared a look of befuddlement. 

“Keep taking risks like that, and you could find yourself in hot water from just one misguided step,” spoke Xypera. 

“I have Matt to plan with me,” Rolo said. “We’ve done plenty of dangerous things before, haven’t we, Nyma?” 

“As bounty hunters,” she reminded him with a grim smile. 

He sighed. “They’re no fun. Well, I’m all sweaty from that adrenaline! Matt, wanna join me?”

Nyma watched the two head down the small hall to the showers, which was nothing more than a closet with a bucket and a hose they also drank from, if the thirst got bad enough. 

“They’ve really become joined at the hips,” Xypera said, the tone of her mechanical voice indicating amusement. “Te-Osh had at first worried the two would not get along.” 

“They’ve certainly warmed up to one another,” Nyma said. “They do everything together now. _And_ they are roommates!” 

“Oh my, roommates! You say it like it’s an annoyance to you?” 

Nyma sighed. “Matt has managed to hack some ‘video games,’ as he calls it, from his home planet and downloaded them into one of the devices he carries. He taught Rolo how to play them, and now that’s all they do when we’re not on mission. The soundtrack keeps playing in my head and keeps me up. I even heard it in my dreams!”

Beezer turned around and gave a very unfortunate, yet accurate, rendering of the recent boss battle that took them three hundred and forty-two—not that Nyma was keeping count—times for them to beat it. 

Xypera chuckled. “Do forgive me, Nyma, but that is an amusing story.” 

“Yeah, suppose so.” Nyma gave a little shrug before frowning. “Xypera, I was wondering…and I hope you don’t think too badly of me…” 

“I never think badly of you.”

“Why do you never take off your helmet?” 

“Ah, well, that…you do not know much of my own home world.”

The words were not meant to reproach. Virtually no one had heard of Xypera’s people of the Brylan Moon when she had joined the rebels. 

“The environment of Bryla is hostile,” Xypera explained. “So hostile that it is remarkable any life manages to grow on this planet, let alone that the Galra managed to overtake us. I believe General Sendak himself had set it up as a personal challenge. 

“In any case, what you see is the closest thing to a skin we have. We were not born with it, but we had built these suits to take out our form for the rest of our lives. They protected us from our own world’s hostility. It kept us healthy.” 

“A life-support suit,” Nyma said under her breath and shuddered. She hated the idea of living in one of those. Falling ill from drinking bad water in dying planets was enough. Realizing that Xypera had heard her, she coughed and tried to find a means of rescue. “Er, I mean—”

“I understand,” Xypera said. “The suits do not harm us. Neither do I find a reason to take them off when outside of our world’s environment. They’ve become part of us.” 

Just then, the dashboard alarm set off as new information crossed their screen sent in by Olia. 

“Another raid,” Nyma read. “Lieutenant Ozar wants us to head to the location Olia provided. They believe there are hostages—damn. More Galra. We should probably wait for backup before we—”

“All right!” Rolo said as he ran up behind her, tugging on the back of her chair as he read the screen. “Just give Matt a minute and he’ll think of some awesome way to take out the whole fleet!” 

“You mustn’t!” Xypera said. “There is too many of them, and—”

“Relax! We got this!” Matt said, laughing as he appeared. He took Rolo’s hand. “Ready?”

###### YOLO!

Colleen glanced up as a shadow passed over her head. Several spaceships were coming to land, and she recognized what sort they were instantly. Her heart leapt.

“He’s here!”

In one of those rebel ships was her son. She couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. Before she only had the chance to speak with Matt through the comms or glean the ship he was on for afar, but it wasn’t enough. She needed to see him, to hug him, to feel with her own two hands that he was okay. She needed to see him stand on solid ground. 

She needed her son safe back home.

A man stepped out of one rebel ship, his hair long but his face instantly recognizable that she could sing. Her son! 

And how much he had changed! Somehow appearing taller, he walked with more confidence than before. His hair had grown, hiding a cut on his cheek—who had done that? She’ll kill them herself—and he was marching with a rebel nearby— _very_ nearby, clad in all armor that even obscured their face. 

The fact that they were holding hands was not missed by her. As they drew closer, Matt slipped his hand away just so he could throw his hands out for a big hug. 

“Matt!” Colleen yelled as she threw her arms around him. Even his hug was different, she noted, his muscles more toned and constricting tighter around her. Not even training for the mission on Kerberos had built him up this much. Working as a rebel against an evil alien empire must have done wonders on him. 

After a brief conversation, she turned to the other rebel who was by his side. 

“And who is this lovely…” She wasn’t sure how to continue, as the full suit gave nothing away of the individual’s identity. 

“Mom,” Matt said excitedly. “Meet Rolo!” 

* 

“Sheesh, you were almost a goner in that raid,” Hunk said after Matt and Rolo were done catching up with the rest of the Voltron team. 

Hunk wasn’t exaggerating. Both had sustained injuries, but Matt was far better off than Rolo was. Xypera had whisked them away back to her home planet, as their hospitals were some of the best known across the universe. Matt made full recovery there, but a full suit was designed and made just for Rolo. It was the only way to keep him alive. 

Although he couldn’t see his face, Matt somehow knew Rolo was smirking under that helmet. There had to be something about the way the helmet was designed that allowed for facial expressions. He had wanted to tinker with it, but Bryla technology was nothing he had ever encountered before, and he wasn’t going to stick his nose into something before asking Xypera a few questions. 

Afterwards Matt and Rolo stayed behind with Shiro as they went over battle plans. Matt almost had to laugh at the thought: Earth as a battlefield for intergalactic war! Who would have thought? 

Shiro threw glances at them every now and again, wearing a smile that Matt couldn’t quite place. 

“What?” Matt eventually asked, the curiosity getting the better of him. 

“We were both out there,” Shiro said. “Remember how terrified we both were? And here we are. Happy.”

“Together with someone,” Matt added, throwing a glance at the pin Keith had given Shiro. Shiro blushed for a moment. 

“I just you to know I’m glad you’re safe,” Shiro said after he recovered. He nodded to both of them. 

Matt beamed. “Same to you, Shiro! Got all the plans in place?”

Shiro considered the map. “Seems so.” 

“All right! YOLO!” 

“Er, Rolo?” Rolo corrected. 

Matt laughed. “YOLO means ‘you only live once,’ like a battle cry.” 

Shiro watched them and gave a little laugh. 

“Sometimes twice,” he mumbled, earning him a brief confused look from Matt and Rolo. 

“We have _a lot_ of catching up to do, pal!” Matt said.


End file.
